An Early Admission
by SuperNinjaCrossbowGirl
Summary: The second time Xerxes seeks answers from Hadassah by the pool, she does not bring up Vashdi, instead she questions him about his supposed affair the night he got back. This leads to a much needed conversation and the reveal of truths that very much needed to be shared.
1. Chapter 1

**Hadassah** :

I sat on the chilled marble next to the bathing pool, my fingers swirling in the top of the water. The air was heavy with incense and perfumes, the sign of luxury, of royalty. The life every girl dreamed of, but a life that felt so cold, so empty to me. I did not understand what had happened. One moment, everything was perfect, and the next, it had shattered into a million pieces.

The memory of the unknown woman's laugh was branded into my mind, left to haunt me, so that every time I thought of my king, my Xerxes, that sound rattled and echoed in my mind and heart. What had changed? He was only gone a couple of months. What could have happened that made him so cold, so distant upon his return?

My fingers danced in the water, it was so dark I felt that if I let my hand fall too deep, it would pull my in, never to be released again. I picked up a yellow flower, twirling it and letting the petals make small rings in the water. How long before my heart stopped hurting? Before the bite of betrayal healed? How long before I truly wanted it to? If I was never allowed back in to my Xerxes, if he continued to cut me out, did I ever want to lose my last connection to the one I loved? Did I want to ever think his name and not feel? No. That thought was more unbearable than even this.

"Is it my foolish desire to believe these stories I hear," the voice of the very one I had been meditating upon came from behind me. I stood quickly to face him. "Or my glaring inability to perceive their mysteries?"

"Perhaps you," I swallowed past the lump in my throat, "placed them back upon the shelve to collect dust without ever truly completing them." I said, hinting towards the unknown reason for this separation he initiated.

"Who is the one that gathers dust?" Xerxes demanded, his words were thick with emotion. "I believed I was your Rachel. But it appears I'm only Leah, and you serve time with me for another."

"No," I chocked out. "My lord, it is not what you think."

"Nothing is as I think anymore. Plots slither through the night. Trust, it decays like secret gates left to rust," he gestured about him in anguish. "Admantha is carried to torture even as we speak."

My heart ached in my chest at the pain etched so deeply into the face of my love. How did everything go so wrong? That I should stand opposed to my king, unable to comfort my husband.

"This Jacob and Rachel, they are no mere story to you," he stepped closer. "Give me some incentive to believe in who you really are. Give me some honor. For if it is truly the honor of Kings to seek out truth in lie, I am a man of scorn," he swore passionately.

"I will answer you, my lord," I said slowly. "If you first answer me."

"Answer you what?" he questioned sharply.

"What have I done that has caused you to doubt my faith? To turn your back on our love?" I lost my resolve not to cry as I forced out the next question: "To send me from your side and invite another into your bed?"

"Into my bed?" he asked, incredulously.

"I came to you that night—to your chambers the night you returned. I heard you," tears wet my face but I did not wipe them. I refused to take my eyes off Xerxes as I watched carefully for any lie or excuse he could make.

"I did not sleep a moment that night, least of all share my bed with another," he spat the statement from his mouth, as if even the thought of the words were as sour as lemon. "I did not even enter my chambers till dawn. I was not the one unfaithful to our love."

I could find no lie in his face. Doubt appeared in my mind, maybe I had been wrong. My heart desperately wanted to believe that its reason for beating was innocent, with everything in it. I longed to find a way that all this animosity, all this pain, was only a misunderstanding, and I could fall back into the arms of my king. But it didn't make sense. And neither did his last sentence.

"Are you insinuating that _I_ was unfaithful?" I did not understand.

"Yes," he yelled. "I saw you! At the lovers gate, the day I came back."

"No," I breathed as I started to see. "Oh, no, no, no. My lord," I closed the distance and cupped his face in my hands, gently speaking. "He is not my lover. You are my husband, my only."

He yanked away from me. "Don't lie."

I grabbed his hand, needing to touch him, to reach him. "I am yours, my lord, king. I swear to you, I have never been, and never shall be another's. Please," I begged. "You must believe me."

"You embraced him, I saw. If he is not a lover then who could be possibly be?"

I tried to think of an answer, but nothing came to me. Nothing but the truth.

"Who?" he shouted.

"My uncle," I fell to my knees before him, sobbing. "He is my uncle."

His breath was heavy and labored. "Uncle?"

I nodded vigorously from my place at his feet. He must believe me. I needed him to. I don't know what I would do if this silence between us remained.

"No," he said and my heart plummeted. "No, if he was your uncle, why have I not met him? Why have you not mentioned him? He did not come to the wedding, you claimed you had no one to invite. No. Why the secrecy? If he was your uncle you wouldn't have needed to meet beneath the lovers gate. No!"

"He is, he is," I pleaded, once again reaching for his hand and this time not letting his pull away from me. "Please, let me explain."

Xerxes looked down at me for a long moment, "I wish to believe you," he said finally. "My heart cries out for me to listen."

"You asked about my people, about Jacob and Rachel. Let me tell you," I prayed that God would somehow make him saw yes. That He would turn the king's heart towards me.

The hand I held twisted, and then he gripped mine back, pulling me off the ground. I came willingly and fell into his arms. The embrace was not like our past embraces, tight and full of warmth and passion, but rather consisted of his arms wrapped loosely around my waist while my hands rested carefully on his chest. And my head didn't tuck into his shoulder or neck but rather our gazes were guarded. Even through all the suspicion in which he regarded me, an undeniable hope was filling us both as we felt the hesitant heat share between us for the first time in weeks. We were not meant to be apart.

"Come," he whispered. "Let us speak of our Jacob where we first began his story."

I nodded nervously. How was I supposed to tell him that I was a Jew? That I had lied to him about everything, even my name? I pushed down my fear; it would not do. God had answered my prayers, I would not be frightened.

 **To Be Continued. . .**

 **Arthur's Note: Hey guys, I want to get this fandom going. One Night With the King is such an amazing movie, and the book's** **awesome too, and I know that more than 5-6 people think so. So if you love this movie, please post a story! I need to read more!**

 **Hope you enjoyed it!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Xerxes:**

I led Ester through the halls of the palace to my chambers. The almost desperate grip on my hand gave me hope. There was still so much that I did not understand. But my heart was determined to give her one last chance to explain herself.

I was curious about her accusation that I had taken another woman. Especially what she actually thought she had heard. Ester was a well learned woman, she was not one to make trifle claims. Whatever conclusion she had come to, it must have been based on something.

But that curiosity was nothing to the longing I felt at finally knowing who my queen was. She had spoken of her parents and the wisdom they had impressed upon her life a few times, but she never divulged into any conversations about where they are now or who they were then. All I truly know of her past is that which she presented to me that first night: Ester of Susa.

Despite my hopes, I had not fooled myself into believing that all that lies between us is false. The very excuse for her actions revealed deceit. I knew not what to think. She claimed to have an uncle, yet before she insisted she had no family. I feared her explanation would reveal more lies than truths.

"Now," I began as the heavy doors shut behind us and I walked with purpose to an ornate stool. Sitting down, I gestured for her to start. "You will explain."

She walked slowly and I could practically see her thoughts spinning a hundred leagues a second. I only hoped they weren't spinning another lie. She sat tentatively, her head down as she worried her lip.

"Well," I demanded.

"I don't know where to start," she whispered quietly. I was about to lose my thinly concealed temper when I caught sight of her face. A look that resembled on of a lost child in the square on market day stopped me short. She was still my Ester, I had to hold onto that thought until she finished her story; it was the only way I knew I could keep my sanity.

"Start at the beginning," I said with as much gentleness as I could find.

She looked up at me and nodded, "I-I was not born in Susa."

When she hesitated, I sighed. This was going to be harder than the current war council meetings, I was sure of it. But thankfully, before I had to prompt her again, she continued.

"I was born in a small village in the western lands."

That made me pause. "You are not Persian?"

"No, my lord."

"But with a name such as Ester, surely you're—" I cut myself off, the answer to my inquiry suddenly hitting me with a force equal to the day I saw her at the lovers gate. Nothing was true. I almost couldn't bring myself to ask my _wife_ the question I knew I needed to. "What is your name?"

She hung her head in shame and I watched new tears stream down her face. "I do love you," she whispered.

"Answer the question," my harsh tone making her jump. She mumbled something but I couldn't make it out. "What?"

"My name is Hadassah Batabihan. I am a daughter of the tribe of Benjamin, and a child of the most high God," as she spoke her voice gained strength, as if she was given fortitude by the words she spoke. Like she was remembering who she was.

"You," I looked upon the woman who carried my heart, who I had made queen of my people. "Ester, a Jew?"

She nodded and I struggled to hold back tears of my own. Without realizing, I started to back away from the stranger in front of me. Ester was a Jew. My Ester. No, not Ester. _Hadassah_.

"My Lord," her strangled cry halted me in my steps. She sprung up from the stool. "Please, let me explain."

I said nothing, but she began as if that was all the permission she needed.

She took a calming breath. "The story of Jacob, my lord, does not finish with marrying Rachel, for they go on to have twelve sons and those twelve sons went on to become the pillars of a people. Your Jacob was given a new name, Israel. As do was I."

I closed my eyes tightly, processing the information. "And why did you not tell me this, why did you lie? Was it your plan to ingratiate yourself with me? To seek to manipulate and control my rule? You are against the war, just as your _people_ ," I spat the word. "Do you mean to help the Greeks? To subplot me?"

"No!" She cried and she once again threw herself at my feet. "I have never betrayed you," she sobbed.

"You have betrayed me since the day we met! Filling my head with a love story of the people who would see me dead and my kingdom fall!"

"Haman lies, my lord, we seek no war. We only wish to live in peace and to please our God."

"You dare accuse the new Prince of Persia? You married me under a false name, you masquerade under the guise of a loving queen, you," my voice broke.

"I do love you," she repeated. That's all she was doing now, repeating.

"Love has failed me!" I stumbled away from her. "Get out of my sight. If you come before me uninvited, I will hold you to protocol. When, or if, I wish to see you ever again, I will call you on my time, my agenda."

"My lord," she cried from her knees. "I only lied because it was not safe—"

"Leave me!"

It was too much, it was all too much. First my father, murdered by our enemies; then Vashti refusing to support me and the war; to Admantha, plotting my death in the dark of night; now my wife. Her betrayal stung even more painfully than even my father's death. I was right, the truth only revealed how much lies she had told me.

A part of me wondered at her accusations of Haman. The prince had no reason to lie, surely. Unless it was he who sought power. Perhaps Admantha was not the only one who had plotted. Maybe Haman had seduced the old prince with fantasies of my throne, only to betray him and turn him in to me. Knowing that I would promote any man with such apparent fidelity.

I cursed myself. No, such thinking could condemn any man. Est—Hadassah had already proved herself the prevaricator, now was not the time to doubt an honest man on the grounds of the words of a false one.

 _I only lied because it was not safe—_

What did that mean? Surely she had no doubt that the palace would not allow harm to come to her while she was under its protection. Surely there was no circumstances so dire that such precautions would have been necessary.

No. They were not precautions. They were lies, lies and betrayal. She had no excuse that could ever hope to justify the wrong that she did. Ester or Hadassah, or whoever she actually was, had no way of ever making repercussions for her actions. I would be ever vigilant, and never allow myself to fall beneath the influence of Hadassah the Jew again. I was decided. Now I had only to convince my heart.


	3. Chapter 3

**Xerxes:**

I had not seen my wife in one week. I had hoped that the distance and acceptance of her betrayal would allow my heart enough time to come to terms with what needed to happen next. I was probably leaving to march in Greece in little more than two months, I needed to leave behind a queen I could trust. But finding a new queen meant disposing of the current one. Even the thought nearly crippled me.

I was currently overseeing a war council meeting. Once again the entire council was in fits. Half wanted to march immediately, resources or allies be damned, the other half either wished to take their time, or not fight at all. My chief advisors, it seemed, were getting more action than our troops on the battlefield.

"Are you mad! This is your plan?"

"It is not that our allies are unwilling, my lord, but they have not fared well."

Soon I needed to determine what to do with my queen. I could barely focus on little else. Admantha had confessed a few days ago, and his execution was yesterday morning. I had wanted nothing more than to seek comfort in the wisdom and love of my wife. It was harder than I ever thought possible to truly accept that the love we shared had been nothing more than a ploy.

"A storm has robbed the Phoenicians of a good part of their fleet."

"Carthage finds herself short in timber with which to complete our warships. . ."

My eyes followed the conversation in a way my mind did not. I watched the arguments but I did not hear them. I listened to the facts but couldn't for the life of me remember the context.

"Surely the fate of the empire does not hinge on money?" Haman mocked, bring my attentions to the loft at which he paced confidently. Against my will and good judgement, I still could not shake what _Hadassah_ had said about him. Even though I knew it was false, part of me still regarded him with suspicion.

"Are you ready to furnish it then?" One of the lords on the floor asked.

"Not I, my lord. But I'm aware of traitors within our borders that could."

"The Jews?" Memucan asked incredulously, and suddenly my interest in the meeting increased tenfold. "We are not children."

"Nevertheless," Haman waved off the insult. "The money could be raised by the confiscation of Jewish wealth and property."

"And the Jews will just hand it over?" The same lord spoke again. "Without a fight?"

I held back my frown. I did not wish to discuss the Jews at this moment. Perhaps if he had suggested a tax on the Jews that would have been more reasonable, but confiscation of all property would never work. I was about to speak when Haman responded to the criticism.

"No, or course not." For a moment I thought he had just conceded, but then, "First we must kill them all. Every last one of them."

My head snapped to look squarely at the captain of the guard turned prince. He spoke of the genocide of an entire race, an entire people. A people that included my wife. At that moment, I could see why a young girl, taken by force from her home in the middle of the night, would change her name and hide her past.

"It's the only way to ensure they do not rise up and seek revenge."

A revenge they would be justified in.

"He speaks of women and children, my lord!" Memucan yelled. I could understand his volume, I too was nearly screaming on the inside. But my screams held no clear objective, they were cries of confusion, frustration and pain.

"Yes, women and children," the statement hung in the air and I realized it sounded like I just agreed with him. "I know," I soothed.

"What is your solution?" Haman called. "Or would you rather, my dear Memucan, the Greeks and the Jews unite hand in hand, and murder us in our sleep?"

"Is the past so mighty that we must destroy our brothers to be free of its grasp?" Memucan challenged, but unfortunately his wisdom was somewhat diminished by his frantic tone. "No kingdom was ever so grand than the Jews' own King Solomon. He fought not one battle, toiled through not one war, but prospered upon the peace handed down by his father."

Prospered on peace. _We only wish to live in peace and to please our God._ Could it be possible that the queen had spoken truthfully, that it was not war but the peace of her fathers that she longed for?

"Why thirst for warfare, when you could drink so deeply of peace?" Memucan moved closer to me as if it was a private inquiry not a matter of state.

"You speak of peace, let us speak of the Jews," Haman snarled. "They would rather bow down to their own God than obey the laws of protocol. Their prophets even speak of a coming king. A king who will reign over all kings and set all men free. Is that not the very essence of democracy, my dear Memucan?" his patronizing tone irked me. Did he have no respect for those his king respected?

"I do believe, under your guidance, we are undone," Haman spoke directly at Memucan, but the insinuation that I could let a Prince lead if he was unqualified was a personal insult.

"If we are undone, we are undone from within!" Memucan finally took the carefully laid bait.

"Enough!" I commanded and the room went silent. "I will think on this, and we will reconvene tomorrow. Tomorrow will be my final decision. No one is to approach me on this matter tonight. If I want your counsel, I will seek it. Otherwise, I will make this decision alone, taking all advice into account. Council adjourned."

I left the room quickly. I needed answers and there was only one place I knew I could find them. I turned down the queen's corridor.

When I got to the room, I ignored the guards, did not knock, and marched right into her chambers. "My queen," is how I announced myself and continued past the servants to stand before her. The entire room froze for a split second in surprise before everyone jumped up. "I need to speak with you alone."

"Of course," she said breathlessly, she was looking at me with such a familiar pain that I had to look away. The room quickly emptied of ladies in waiting, maids, and guards alike. Neither of us moved until the door shut quietly.

"My king," she bowed her head, her voice wavering.

"You said before that it was not safe for your true name to be known. Why was it not safe?" I cut to the point.

She looked affronted by my bluntness but her hesitation was not due to that. I could see in her eyes her fear stemmed from elsewhere.

I moved towards her and lifted her chin, touching her for the first time in a long and pain filled week. The nearness to her was like a balm, seeping into me and filling part of the aching hole in my chest. "Hadassah, do not be afraid. I will never let them harm you."

She sucked in a breath and it took me a moment to see why. I had called her by her name, something I had never spoken out loud, or even thought without a parallel scoff. I knew we needed to talk, and that I couldn't stand and demand answers again. That didn't work last time. So I pulled her down and we sat on the cushion she had been on when I came in.

"Why did you lie, Hadassah?"

"I didn't mean to," she said quietly. "My uncle knew how dangerous it would be for a Jew to come to the palace. Before I was selected we came up with an alias, to keep me safe. I did not mean to deceive you."

She looked about ready to fall to her knees again. If I had to look down at her begging on the floor again, I was going to lose it.

"Your uncle? Where were your parents? Surely your father would have had a hand in this plan as well."

She swallowed back a new set of tears. "My parents were killed when I was a child."

Unwilling to let her suffer in silence, but unsure how far I wanted to go, I settled for resting my hand on hers. "How?"

"The were murdered, persecuted for being Jews." More tears fell. "I hid under my bed, but I'll never forget the smell of the blood and the burning bodies or the sounds of the screams all around me. They slaughtered everyone. And I—" she tore her hand from my and covered her face with both of her small, delicate hands. Her sobs racked her body and I knew she was back under that bed, watching her parents die. I gave up my reluctance and pulled her into my arms. To hell with it all.

"Shh, my queen. You are safe no, they cannot hurt you." I rocked her softly until she finally began to calm down.

"But they do. They continue their holocaust everyday. Even if it has not yet happened in Susa or other large cities that demand Persian presence. They are smart, cunning. Painting us as enemies of the crown, of you, so they can justify their savage acts. We have been at war for so many years, and we have nothing to defend ourselves with."

My hold tightens on its own as I listen to the gruesome tales I know to be true.

"I was not unaware of the opinions some have about us then, nor am I unaware of what you discuss now."

"You know then, of what Haman has proposed."

She nodded. "I knew it was only a matter of time before he did. I have to admit, though, he moves fast."

"How do you know he is one of these, these murderers? Could he not just be another person, taken in by the rumors?"

"He wears their crest."

"What?"

"The crest that the men who killed my parents wore. He wears it on his belt."

I was silent for a while, enjoying the feel of her in my arms once more, as I added this new information into my decisions for tomorrow. I pushed out all thoughts of war, that was not what we needed to be discussing. I needed to sort through this with Hadassah before I could actually concentrate on any other subject.

"So the man you were with, at the lovers gate," I trailed off.

"Was my uncle," she confirmed.

"And you changed your name because you feared for your life, not because you meant to manipulate me by hiding your true identity." Now that I said it, it truly did sound absurd.

"Never," Hadassah said.

"Was that truly all our fight was about?" I cupped her face. "A misunderstanding and a concerned uncle?" I nearly laughed I was so happy to have my wife back. I expected her to laugh with me but instead a cloud seemed to form in her features. "My love?"

She pulled away and I remembered what she had accused me of that night all those days ago. She believed me to have been unfaithful. I thought of the pain I had been in all this time and knew she felt the same. But unlike her, I didn't have an explanation behind mine. I didn't even know the basis for her assumption.

"How could you?" She whispered.

"I didn't." I said firmly.

"But I heard," she began.

"I don't know what you heard, but I can swear on my life it wasn't what you thought. I never even entered my chambers that night. I couldn't bare to look at the bed we had shared so many times, and think you might have shared someone else's as well."

Her brow furrowed.

"I was with Memucan that entire night. We spoke of the war and he attempted to keep my mind off what we thought we had seen."

She still looked suspicious. "Then what did I hear?"

"I know not what your heard, only what you didn't. I never even considered going to another that night. My heart belongs to you, my queen, and my heart seems to have more say than my mind of late."

I could see the longing to believe me in her face and so I leaned down and claimed my first kiss in many weeks. Her lips were unbelievably soft and the feel of them against my own felt like I had finally returned home.

"I love you, Hadassah, my wife."

Her eyes got misty again, but this time I could tell she was not sad. "I love you too, my king."

After a few more minutes, I broke away from my wife. "Come, we need to speak with Memucan."

"We?" She asked.

"Yes. I did not seek you out merely for personal matters, but of the state as well. Haman still means you harm, and that is something I cannot allow to happen. We will find a much relieved ally in Memucan. I believe he was about to step down as my high general during our meeting this morning."

She smiled and I didn't resist the urge to pull her into my arms once again.


End file.
